Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-05-21
Hotels in the Yellowstone.

Hotels in the Yellowstone.
My return journey to the Mammoth
Hot springs was hurried, but it gave
me an opportunity of learning some
thing about the way in which the park
employees live. At nightfall we reach
ed the only camp within thirty miles
to find that party of visitors had just
arrived, and that there was no chance
of accommodation. In this dilemma
and it was 80 dark that we could hard
ly see two rivers through which we
passed-our indefatigable guide recol-
lected that a mile and a hall distant
there was log cabin belonging to a
wheelwright in the service of the COM
pany. He dashed off to ascertain if we
could have friendly shelter for the
night, and speedily brought word that
we might have supper and blanket on
the floor. No weary guests could have
received heartier welcome, and, i'm
mediately the wife heard that one men,
ber of our party of four was sick lady,
she showed the kindest attention. The
sleeping apartment occupied by the
hard-working couple was remarkably
| simple. A canvas screen was stretch
ed across one end of the cabin, and a
rough straw bed was to them the soft
est couch. The little house really
boasted two rooms, but one was for the
storage of lumber and provisions. The
cabin itself was given up for our use.
Certainly the company having control
of the park take care that their work.
arIrr nd 4oI
both from the extremes of climate and
the wild animals, which in winter time
prowl around human habitations in
search of food. Every chink was SC
sealed that the only ventilation was
through the open door. A supper and
breakfast were provided far better than
any we had tasted for days. Fresh
coffee was ground and served equal to
that in Partisan cafe, and there was
an abundance of fresh eggs, milk,
cakes, and bread. For the hospitality
we were only asked Is cents each-less
than the price of single bad meal at
many other places we had entered. In
one respect the good nature of these
worthy people was inconvenient. The
night being cold, fire was kept up in
stove, until at last we could scarcely
breathe, and large hunting dog, un-
accustomed to seeing strangers lying
on the ground, deemed it to be his
duty to keep strict watch. In the
morning he manifested less suspicion
in our movements, and listened with
kind of personal interest to his master,
as he related some of his adventures
with wild animals which infest the
park. When he exhibited his rifle and
the skull of fine bear-one of the or
naments of the cabin-the dog evident
ly meant us to understand that on these
shooting excursions his intelligent aid
was of some Importance.
The wheelwright had had no expert
ence of the depths of winter in the
park, as he and his wife had come from
Canada early in the spring. At that
time they had to obtain provisions
from distance of 120 miles. Nearer
than that, prices at the squatters' huts
and tents were about famine quotations.
Nor did they expect to remain at their
present comfortable quarters during
the coming winter. All traffic through
the park is then out of the question.
To be stationed here when the snow
has blotted out the trails and paths,
when the rivers are swollen to torrents
and the ice on the hills renders them
impossible, must be as cheerless an
existence as that of lighthouse keep
er on some lonely island, where the
storm-tossed waves forbid all approach.
The lighthouse keeper indeed, would
have the advantage. He would not be
cut off from all chance of rescue. Dur
ing calm he could receive supplies,
and vessels are constantly passing in
the distance. But these high mountain
ranges and desolate alkali plains are
as forbidding as the arctic regions to
man. Soon after the end of September,
when bad weather duly commences,
all those who have been busy minister
ing to the wants of tourists and hunting
parties pack up and hasten away. A
few hunters and squatters may be heard
of now and then roaming about certain
parts in search of game, but the park
is practically abandoned.-C Cor. Lon. Tel.